I am not sure where my pioneering spirit comes from. My grandparents on my mother's side, the Macdonalds, lived at Wakarara, at the base of the Ruahine Range. This rugged and isolated way of living made a real impact during my childhood.
We were always outside exploring rivers, making huts, on motorbikes or riding horses. There were no local shops and power cuts were often. Looking back, we had so much freedom. I believe it prepared me to be more capable later on in life. Growing up on a farm taught us the skills of being independent and self-reliant. I wonder if this is why I am so drawn to our community garden.
I believe I have the best job in Hawke's Bay, if not Aotearoa. On certain days I can put my gumboots on and spend time helping Gary in the garden. This week we prepare for our Fair for Life annual audit of fair trade standards applied against how we operate our community garden.
Last year, our auditor from northern India was orientated to our situation.
We start our audit process by meeting in our whare at Te Aranga Marae. This is to provide a background of the garden and describe Flaxmere's demographics and local challenges within a New Zealand context.
I am aware the auditors predominantly visit third-world countries, so our situation for him would be very different.
Our garden is funded mainly by funding stream Fair for Life, which falls under the Bostocks premium organic apples sold to Whole Foods America under their fair trade agreement.
We at U-Turn are fortunate to be eligible for this funding. A charitable trust working with indigenous peoples regarding social responsibility, we receive an annual amount calculated on the sale of Bostocks apples. Fortunately, last season was apparently one of the best for our local apple growers.
The funding stream funds our Te Aranga Community Garden, Gardens in Schools and Gardens in Homes. Our report of recent activities pertaining to the garden includes our Pacific garden plot, developed by Nathan Foote, dedicated to our Pasifika fanau of Flaxmere, and pou carved by artist Thompson Hokianga, yet to be installed, for a waharoa or entranceway to our garden.
By creating this formal gateway we hope to reduce vandalism. Unison has offered to assist us to erect them but right now Unison has its hands full restoring power to remote areas in Hawke's Bay and Taupo.
Another activity related to our community garden is our First Foods project. This project, with partners HBDHB and Plunket, has been nominated for the HBDHB Health Awards entered in the Provider Collaboration category. The project aims to address obesity in adulthood by ensuring our children have the "best start to life". We support young mums to introduce healthy solids, not before six months.
Nutritionist Ruth Spicer brings the mums to visit the garden to gather produce supplemented by Bostocks squash. It's a hands-on, practical example of working with our community. Utensils and simple recipes are provided.
U-Turn also attended a health event at the Flaxmere Community Centre, where we ran a draw for those residents of Flaxmere to win a Garden in Home. We supply garden beds, compost, seedlings, a hose and tuition.
More recently we have had people providing labour to our garden through the police and those who must work community hours. We gratefully accept the labour. It's a big job tending 5.4ha of garden, which is one way of engaging with whanau. Linkages to all possibilities as a result of that engagement is what it is all about.
- Ana Apatu is chief executive of the U-Turn Trust, based at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere.
